Storms and ice – now UK hits 19.6C in January!

AFTER the freezing snaps and storms, Britain’s barmy winter took a new twist yesterday with the highest-ever temperature in January.

A balmy 19.6C (67.3F) was recorded in Kinlochewe, in the north-west of the Scottish Highlands, making it warmer than Rome.

Swathes of the UK also enjoyed unseasonally warm conditions with London seeing 12C ( 4F) and 14C ( 7C) recorded in Ryhl, north Wales.

Temperatures will remain in double figures across most of the UK today, with many experiencing bright spells.

The warm patch follows the recent Storm Isha and Storm Jocelyn, which battered the country with 80mph winds, and a cold snap earlier in the month.

The record temperature in the Highlands was more than a

Extreme temperatures

full degree hotter than the previous highest figure of 18.3C in Inchmarlo and Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, in 2003.

Met Office forecaster Becky Mitchell said the ‘anomalously high’ temperatures were caused by a strong southerly wind and something known as the Foehn Effect.

‘This is where wind rises up one side of a mountain and warms as it goes down the other side, creating a warm sunny spot,’ she said.

Ms Mitchell said the unpredictable weather is also tied in with the shifting jet stream, which plays a crucial role in driving weather systems towards the UK.

‘The jet stream can meander and it’s quite active at the moment,’ she said.

‘That’s why we have been seeing extreme temperatures.’

Despite the unseasonably warm weather, parts of north and central Scotland were battered by strong winds yesterday, with gusts of 71mph.

A yellow weather warning is in place for more gusts across the far north of Scotland on Wednesday, with gales also forecast for the rest of the UK.